2024 RACE DATE: Monday-Wednesday, July 22-24, 2024.
FUTURE RACE DATES: July 7-9, 2025; July 27-29, 2026.
SUNRISE / SUNSET (July 4, using Ridgecrest for reference): Moonset: 0704 | Morning Civil Twilight: 0523 | Sunrise: 0551 | Moonrise: 2127 | Sunset: 2002 | Evening Civil Twilight: 2030 | Note: July 21 is the full moon.
OFFICIAL TIME OF NIGHT: For the purposes of this event, nighttime is considered to be 1900 (700pm) to 0700 (700am.)
DISTANCE: 135 miles / 217 km.
WHO: An international, invitational field of up to 100 endurance athletes representing twenty or more countries and twenty or more American states. See all the race rosters here. See the 2024 roster here.
APPLYING TO ENTER: The Badwater 135 Ultramarathon is, and always has been, an invitational race. See above for the application timeline. Click the Entry tab above for the qualifying standards and application procedures.
RACE MAGAZINE: The 2023 July BADWATER Magazine is available as a Pdf download (12MB, 48-page PDF file.) The 2024 edition will be posted in June.
STAY IN THE LOOP: If you are racing or if you are crewing, you should be receiving the regular email updates from the race office. Please also “Become a fan of” our Facebook page (Badwater135), subscribe to our @Badwater Twitter feed (also please use hashtag #Badwater135 on social media), and follow our two Instagram accounts: @BadwaterHQ and @adventurecorps.
IMPORTANT MANDATORY FORMS FOR COMPETITORS AND CREW MEMBERS
All entrants must download, print, complete, sign, and bring the following mandatory forms to Competitor Check-In:
• Check-In Form (Coming Soon: one per competitor)
• Accident Waiver & Release of Liability (Coming Soon: one per competitor AND one per crew member)
• NPS Acknowledgement of Risk Form (one per competitor)
• Optional: Medical History form (for any competitor or crew member with relevant medical history to report)
Click here to download ALL of the 2024 forms (Coming soon.)
Optional Custom Signage and/or “CAUTION RUNNERS ON ROAD” signage order form (July 10 is the 2024 deadline to submit this form!)
Bring all these forms, fully completed, to Competitor Check-In. (For crew members who will arrive later, have them complete and sign their waiver in advance of the race, and bring those waivers with you; we must receive all waivers and paperwork together during Competitor Check-In.)
MEDIA: All journalists must apply for a Media Credential prior to the race. More info. Contact us with questions. Download the Press Kit.
HOTELS: We have reserved blocks of rooms in Furnace Creek, Stovepipe Wells, and Lone Pine during our event. Information about our special pricing is provided ONLY to confirmed entrants in the race, as well as media. That special information is necessary to make reservations and to secure the special rates that we have obtained for Badwater 135 Ultramarathon competitors, crew, and staff. Entrants, media, and sponsors: do not delay in making your reservations; the Death Valley and Lone Pine area is a very popular destination. All registered entrants will receive the special booking codes and information.
STARTING LOCATION: Badwater Basin, Death Valley, CA.
ENDING LOCATION: Whitney Portal, elevation 8360 feet, located near the end of Whitney Portal Road, above Lone Pine, CA, on Mt. Whitney. The race does not continue up the Whitney Trail further onto the mountain.
COURSE RECORDS: Men’s: Yoshihiko Ishikawa, 2019, Japan: 21:33:01. Women’s: Ashley Paulson, 2023, USA, 21:44:35. For Age Group records and more info, click here.
AWARDS: All competitors who begin the event will receive a Badwater 135 Ultramarathon t-shirt, hat, Badwater Magazine, and a goodie bag. All competitors who officially complete the event within 48 hours will receive a finisher’s t-shirt and “The Holy Grail of Ultra Running,” the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon Belt Buckle.
RACE HEADQUARTERS: This will be set up during the race at the Furnace Creek Ranch and then at the Dow Villa in Lone Pine, CA for the duration of the race.
FOLLOWING THE RACE ONLINE: We will upload time splits, image galleries, and social media posts on a continual basis for the duration of the 48 hour race. This will be centralized on the website at this link. Following our Facebook and Instagram is equally important, along with the time splits page here. This will take place throughout Competitor Check-In, and then during the entire race, plus we keep the entire webcast archived forever.
We will post time splits from nine locations along the route. Keep in mind that the first timing checkpoint is 17 miles into the race and it will take the runners several hours to get there.
Keep in mind that cell phone coverage is only available along the race route from mile 17 to about mile 45, and then only from Mile 102 to the Mile 135 finish line.
Internet access is only available in Furnace Creek (Mile 17), Stovepipe Wells (Mile 42), and Lone Pine (Mile 122.) Bringing race coverage to you is no easy feat! Hats off to our race staff for their Herculean efforts!
Finally, please do not email us or ask us to pass along any information to any runner during the race. We don’t even check email during the race. Enjoy the race and thank you for your support and enthusiasm, everyone!
PERMITS: This event is held under special use permits from the California Department of Transportation, Inyo National Forest, Death Valley National Park, Inyo County Public Works, Inyo County Public Health, and is additionally overseen by the California Highway Patrol. (If one of these agencies won’t issue us a permit, this race could be cancelled. Please keep that in mind!)
In accordance with Federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture policy, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age or disability. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.)
To file a complaint of discrimination, write USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, Whitten Building, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
OFFICIAL CHARITY: The official charities of the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon are Challenged Athletes Foundation and Bald Head Island Conservancy. We are also members of 1% For The Planet and the Conservation Alliance, as well as life members of the Death Valley Natural History Association. Click here for all the info about these wonderful organizations and what you can do to get involved. Click here for info about our environmental efforts.
Entry Fee Refunds via CAF Fund-raising: Race entrants may have their entry fee reimbursed by raising at least $8,000 for Challenged Athletes Foundation, an Official Charity of the Badwater 135 Ultramarathon. Fund-raising for CAF is made simple with a fully automated and personalized webpage where friends, family, and co-workers may donate in a secure and simple manner. The $8,000 must be raised in full by July 15. On approximately August 1, those race entrants who raised at least $8,000 – as verified by CAF – will have their entry fee refunded.
Free Guaranteed Entry in the Race For Major Charitable Donors: The race organizers will give a limited number of qualified applicants the opportunity to be guaranteed acceptance into the race in exchange for a $8,000 donation to Challenged Athletes Foundation or Bald Head Island Conservancy (at our discretion, as to which organization.) Here are the guidelines for this opportunity:
A full and acceptable application must be submitted during the standard application timeframe. Within the application, the applicant must state “I am willing to make a $8,000 donation RIGHT NOW to one of the Official Charities of the Badwater 135, in order to guarantee my acceptance in the race.” The Race Committee will review the application, and if they unanimously agree to accept the applicant, the applicant will receive an Entry Acceptance email. At that time, the applicant must immediately donate $8,000 to CAF or BHIC (at our discretion) via check or the special weblink provided. Upon confirmation of that donation by CAF or BHIC, the applicant will receive notice of their Confirmed Entry in the race. NO ENTRY FEE will be required.
PLEASE NOTE: This offer is only available during the standard application timeframe. It may not be utilized later, for example by an applicant who was not accepted into the race, in order to gain entry.
Also please note: under NO circumstances should an applicant make the $8,000 donation – with the intention of earning Guaranteed Acceptance – until advised to do so by the Race Committee.
Finally, any applicant who utilizes this offer to enter the race must take advantage of this opportunity in 2023. If he or she is unable to race in 2023 for any reason, entry will NOT be guaranteed in a later year.
DRIVING DISTANCES:
Las Vegas Airport to Furnace Creek: 140 miles
Los Angeles Airport to Furnace Creek: 250 miles
Lone Pine to Las Vegas Airport: 240 miles
Lone Pine to Los Angeles Airport: 210 miles
DIRECTIONS TO FURNACE CREEK FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AND LAS VEGAS:
Click Here: Pdf download of the best route to drive to and from Death Valley. Print this and use it for your drive to and from the event!
NEVER USE A GPS TO NAVIGATE TO DEATH VALLEY!
